Hosted at the heart of the European breakbulk market, AntwerpXL provides a platform for the breakbulk, roro, heavy lift and project cargo industry to showcase innovative technology, overcome industry challenges, and make connections.
One of the highlights of the exhibition will be the Main Deck Conference, which will take place on the last two days of the event (5 and 6 October).
Day one features five sessions, four of which include:
The first session on Forecasting will be moderated by Felix Schoeller, Commercial Director of AAL Shipping. It will feature industry experts including Justin Archard, Managing Partner of One World Shipbrokers, and Susan Oatway, Maritime Consultant and Immediate Past Chairman of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, Drewry.
The Digitalisation panel includes Karel Van den Berghe, CEO of Globis Software, Kunal Singh, Sales Engineer at Navis, Valentin Carlan, Post-doc Researcher at the University of Antwerp, Stijn Olbrechts, Process & Digital Transformation Owner at Lineas. The session will be moderated by Peter Bouwhuis, President & CEO of XELLZ Group.
The lunchtime Nextgen session features speakers Christa Sys, Professor, University of Antwerp and Philippe Fierens, Managing Director of ExSeCo Belgium, talking on developing an agile workforce which is able to fully ‘think out of the box’, using new skills and competencies for a robust future breakbulk labour market.
Closing the first day will be the Connections session led by Katarina Stancova, Senior Mobility Advisor at the Port of Antwerp and featuring experts including Peter Larose, Head of Projects at Conti7, Edwin Moehlig, Managing Directorat Rail & Sea NV and Eloi Flipo, Business Development Directorat VNF.
Day two features four sessions, three of which include:
The opening session on Technology features Ben Swaelen, Sales Manager and Nicolas Van der Wee, Creative Strategist, both from icapps. They will discuss working towards a valuable digital solution; answering industry needs and desires to enrich the daily life experiences of end-users. The session will cover the problems that can arise within logistics, debunking the myths about digitalisation, looking after our people and the world around us and how to future-proof the industry.
The pre-lunch session on Sustainability will be led by Matthew Moss, Knowledge Transfer Manager for Maritime at Innovate UK KTN. He will discuss an outlook for developing a cost-effective and sustainable breakbulk logistics chain. The panel will include Bernard van Haeringen, Sales Manager at GoodFuels, Maja Felicia Bendtsen, Chief Business Officer Bulk at Port of Roenne, Wim Dillen, Int. Development Manager at Port of Antwerp and Pascal Lammerts van Bueren, Global Director of Lubbers Logistics.
The conference will close with the forward-looking Challenges and Opportunities session – a 360-degree review of trends, trade flows, opportunities and barriers to trade, and the overall economic outlook for breakbulk projects. The panel will be led by Catrien Scheers, Ambassador, Fast Lines, and includes Albert-Jan Ars, Commercial Manager, Katoen Natie Port Operations, and Yorck Niclas Prehm, Head of Research, Toepfer Transport.
Rikki Bhachu, Head of Marketing at AntwerpXL, says: “The conference is an excellent opportunity to gain niche and focused insight from some of the brightest minds in the industry. Like many other sectors, breakbulk is in transition, and it’s events like AntwerpXL and its Main Deck Conference that will help businesses navigate the changing landscape.”
Visit https://www.antwerpxl.com/ for more details and to register for the event.